ACCUWEATHER: Old Man Winter may dish out heavy snowstorm in northeastern US this weekend

By Alex SosnowskiAccuWeather.com

Thursday

Apr 5, 2018 at 11:54 AMApr 5, 2018 at 12:10 PM

If the storm makes more of a northward jog Saturday night into Sunday morning, then accumulating snow may spread northward over southern and eastern New England.

Lingering Arctic air will set the stage for additional snowfall in the northeastern United States over the next five days, including the potential for a significant snowstorm during the first full weekend of April.

Don't put away the shovel and the snowbrush just yet as Old Man Winter will keep dishing it out into early next week. More travel disruptions and frustrations for baseball and other spring outdoor activities are on the way.

While thunderstorms in the region over the past day or so were a reminder that lasting spring weather is just around the corner, some locations will be affected by three snow events into next Tuesday.

Snow from the first storm will mainly streak from the Great Lakes to upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania and New England from Thursday night to Friday.

Snowfall with this storm will generally average 1-3 inches with locally higher amounts over the upper Great Lakes, northeastern New York state and northern New England.

The most significant storm of the trio and the one most likely to cause major disruptions to travel and outdoor activities for parts of the Midwest and Northeast is anticipated to span Friday to early Sunday.

Snow for the main wintry storm will spread from the northern Rockies to the central Plains to end this week. As the storm encounters a surge of Gulf of Mexico moisture over the Mississippi Valley, snowfall rates are likely to ramp up as the storm heads eastward.

Locally heavy snow is likely to fall on part of the lower Ohio Valley on Friday evening then spread to the upper part of the Ohio Valley Friday night.

During Saturday, a swath of heavy snow is likely to spread from the mountains of West Virginia, western Maryland and northwestern Virginia to the upper mid-Atlantic coast and southern New England.

How much snow accumulates on roads will depend on the time of day and the rate of snowfall. Where it snows at night to the first few hours of the morning, roads are likely to be slushy and perhaps snow-covered, even in urban areas. It is possible these conditions extend to the Washington, D.C. area for a time.

However, where it snows very hard during the midday hours, snow may even accumulate on many paved and concrete surfaces.

The boundary where rain and sleet may be mixed with snow or the snow may be so wet to struggle to accumulate during the middle of the day and during the afternoon is likely to extend from the southern part of the Interstate 81 corridor to a portion of I-95 from near Washington, D.C., to New York City.

However, a north or south shift in the storm track by as little as 50 miles could bring the swath of heavy, accumulating snow to part of this zone or push enough warmer air in from the south to bring mostly rain.

Where all or most of the snow falls at night or during the first few hours of daylight, from parts of Kentucky to portions of West Virginia, northern Virginia, northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, there is the potential for 6-12 inches to accumulate on elevated and grassy surfaces. Significantly less snow will accumulate on roads.

Since the snow is likely to occur during the middle of the day in much of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, northern Delaware and southeastern New York state, it may struggle to accumulate on roads.

If the storm makes more of a northward jog Saturday night into Sunday morning, then accumulating snow may spread northward over southern and eastern New England.

Along much of the path of the storm, the snow is likely to be wet and subject to cling to trees and power lines. This weight may lead to power outages.

Airline delays and flight cancellations related to deicing operations and poor visibility are likely at the major hubs from Cincinnati and Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, as well as at airports for connecting flights.

Perhaps the last hurrah for the winter of 2017-18 will be with a storm slated to affect the Midwest on Monday and the Northeast during Monday night and Tuesday.

With somewhat less cold air at that third storm's disposal, accumulating snow may be limited to the Great Lakes, central Appalachians and part of New England.

Additional storms later next week are likely to bring rain instead of snow to most areas. However, the frequency of these storms may not allow the ground to dry out in between.